Properties that now have a body of green feed, two centimetres high have no need for feeding of ewes. Regarding the weaners, it depends on how they were going. If they are light, less than 22 kilograms, then I would keep giving them some grain to increase weight gain. I’m expecting the soil moisture to give about three weeks of growth. If it dries off again we reassess our feeding then. I will be very surprised if we have green feed all the way to winter.

The other extreme is that you have no green feed. The rain has continued the decline in dry feed quality so supplementary feeding becomes more important. I’m expecting that ewes will be losing 1kg per week just grazing on the dead feed. 1.4kg of grain per week gets ewe weight loss back to 0.5kg per week, 2.1kg per week of grain gets weight loss to 0.2kg per week. How much weight loss in ewes you can tolerate depends on the fat score of your ewes and when you are joining. The bottom line is a mob fat score of 2.5kg. With no feeding, ewes will drop a fat score in six weeks.

Weaners with no green feed will need 2.1 kg/wk of grain including 15 per cent of lupins or an equivalent to get a satisfactory weight gain.

What if the pasture is somewhere in between - one centimetre of green - (I’m not talking about the whole paddock being covered in one centimetre but there is app 50 per cent of the paddock with feed that high).

Ewes not feeding will lose approximately 0.4kg per week. 1.4kg per week of grain will have no weight loss. For the weaners, 1.4kg per week with 10 per cent lupins gives a satisfactory weight gain.

Your assessment of the paddocks for changing these rates goes on pasture height.

The odds of showers during February have improved and if this occurs then the autumn is looking more positive.

Worms over February will be a challenge. Anyone who has had barber pole late last year will need to be very attentive and maybe a long acting drench against BP will be needed.